For those that have read my novel on how much fun it can be to capsize a Falcon, I mentioned the rigging changes that I've made to make it a little more convenient for me to single hand. Here's some more information and a couple of pictures for those that might want to try something similar.

When I first bought the boat, the jib sheets were tended by either holding them or cleating them off to a single cleat mounted at the rear base of the centerboard trunk. The main sheet had only a spool like drum attached to a bronze fixture screwed to the floor boards also near the back of the centerboard trunk. (I think I still have it if someone thinks it's worth a picture for historical reference.) This wasn't very convenient so the first thing I added was a "thwart" across between the two seats so I could mount a Harken cam cleat on a swivel base with a block for the main sheet. The jib sheet gave whomever was along as "ballast" something to hold on to / do besides whining about also being my spray rail when we were out on the chop on Lake Winnipesaukee.

After the restoration, I found that I was usually sailing solo so I added a pair of fairleads and cam cleats for the jib sheets. I've been pleased with the way this has worked and can still pull of some pretty snappy tacks when I need to. The big problem turned out to be issues with the main sheet occasionally fouling on the rudder when coming about. I really don't recall this being much of an issue "back in the day" but then again, I was usually just dealing with the main and the rudder. I had one or two close calls with not being able to release the main in a gust due to this problem before the capsize. On those occasions I was able to flip the rope off the rudder to free it or simply luffed up into the wind using the rudder. Neither of these worked with the boat already 90 degrees the day I flipped...

What I ended up doing was to add a block on the boom directly above the existing Harken assembly to duplicate the mechanical advantage of the original rear deck blocks, a new block with a loop to tie off the main to on the Harken end of things. I've been very happy with the way it works and I no longer have any worries about fouling the main sheet on the rudder. The orange cushion is pretty close to where I end up sitting, you can sort of see how the sheets and rudder all fall pretty close at hand.